Looking back on it now, the Scot pinpoints a mundane trip to a WH Smith in Heathrow airport as the start of the two-year journey that will take him to the first tee at Gleneagles this week.

That day in 2012 it was just a time-killing exercise while he waited for his connecting flight home from a tournament and among the items purchased in his impromptu shopping spree was a little notebook.

Once boarded, he sat in his seat, opened the notebook and began composing a list.

A random collection of thoughts and targets that would reinvent his whole approach to golf – and hopefully take his game to the next level where he could mix it with the very best in the game.

Now, two years on, he is on the verge of fulfilling his ultimate target by competing in his first Ryder Cup in front of a cheering home support just 35 miles from his front door.

It is the stuff of dreams but the result of design – the culmination of a strategic re-evaluation of his whole set-up, both on and off the course, that has paid spectacular dividends.

Gallacher said: “I was in Heathrow Terminal Five waiting for a delayed flight when I went into a shop and bought a notepad.

“When I worked with Adam Hunter, I always remembered him being a man who had a little black book to write things down in and that’s what I did.

“So I wrote down a few goals such as trying to get into the Majors and into the world’s top 50, holing more putts etc.

“Another thing in it was ‘Don’t get injured next year’ and ‘Hit the ball higher’ and then over the next few months I set about taking steps to address every point in that notebook.

“I changed everything. I’m getting on in life and my swing was starting to cause me pain so I had to change that and re-address everything really. Now I do stretching every morning and every night and I’ve worked hard, hitting a lot of balls in practice.

“So making the Ryder Cup team is an accumulation of everything really. A reward for everything I changed.

“I wanted to take every aspect of my game and improve it by a small margin and make a conscious effort to stay injury free.

“I worked with a strength and conditioning coach called Kevin Duffy towards the end of last year and it took me four or five weeks to find my feet.

He also works with Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen and he wanted to address my posture to ease the pressure on my back.

“It’s made a big difference because I’ve not had an injury this year. By being healthier I’ve been able to play in everything I needed to this year.

“I didn’t want to be forced to take time off – I wanted to only take a tournament off when I felt I needed a break. That helped me tailor a schedule specifically geared towards qualifying for the Ryder Cup. Then another big decision was going to California to see Dave Stockton to sort out my putting, on the advice of Phil Mickelson.

“I worked for 20 years with Bob Torrance but sadly he wasn’t well enough this year and passed away in July. I still spoke with Bob on the phone but I got help from Alan McCloskey who is now coaching me full time.

“There were other big changes behind the scenes. Employing a new management team, which I changed to three or four years ago, was geared to the Ryder Cup.

“Everything changed – the golf clubs I used in order to hit the ball higher. But every change was for a specific and good reason.

“I used the ethos of the Team GB cycling guys such as Sir Chris Hoy – if it doesn’t make the bike go quicker then you don’t do it. If I’m doing something that isn’t making me any better, then I don’t do it any more.”

It must be immensely satisfying to have achieved the target that he set out in that notebook two years ago but coach McCloskey insists this is just the beginning of Gallacher’s fairytale – not the culmination.

McCloskey is the long-serving pro at the Lanarkshire course Bothwell Castle where he combines a busy club role with coaching duties that see him look after a clutch of tour players, including Gallacher, Marc Warren and Scott Jamieson.

His players having notched up four tour wins in two and half years and Gallacher’s presence in Paul McGinley’s European team as a captain’s pick is the icing on the cake for 47-year-old McCloskey.

He said: “It is a phenomenal story because Stephen is nearly 40. It’s his 18th year on tour and you would have thought if it was going to happen for him it would have happened a long time ago.

“He was always classed as a golfer with lots of potential but until now it has not really happened for him but now here he is a Scot in the Ryder Cup in Scotland – it’s a fairytale.

“Although he has been round the block for 10 years, he is ready for it. This will be the making of his golf career. I do believe he will go on to better and bigger things and will fulfil the potential he’s shown over all these years.

“I’ve no doubts about him. In his mind, he is hugely excited about the whole thing. All his golf career he’s been destined for the big scene and this is the start of it.

“The biggest thing we’ve worked on is his ball flight. Initially his ball flight angle into the green was too shallow. There was a perception that his putting was an issue but there was nothing wrong with that – he just wasn’t getting close enough to the flag because the angle was too shallow so he was either too short or too long.”

poll loading

Will Europe retain the Ryder Cup?

0+ VOTES SO FAR

For McCloskey, Gleneagles will mark his first visit to a Ryder Cup where he will have unique access inside the ropes and up close as Europe strive to retain the coveted trophy.

He added: “It’s going to be fantastic to see it up close, I’ve been to all the Majors but there is something special about the Ryder Cup.

“It is going to be huge for the country and to have someone such as Stephen who is hugely popular with the crowd just adds to the spectacle.

"It would have been disappointing had we not had any Scot in the team.”

Fancy yourself as a sports know-it-all? Test yourself with our quiz:

Question -1 of 5Score -0 of 0

Ian Poulter has played in 15 Ryder Cup matches. How many points has he won?